When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

This was another fierce battle. Although the initial ambush had eliminated a considerable portion of the enemy's fighting force, the number of opponents far exceeded the cultivators' expectations. The battle grew increasingly intense, with the cultivators falling into a disadvantageous position. More than half of their forces were incapacitated by the natives, and even Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue faced extremely difficult circumstances.

Fortunately, Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi, who had been gone for a day, returned just in time. Not only did they return themselves, but they also brought along several cultivators as reinforcements. With this fresh influx of power, the situation rapidly reversed and stabilized.

Half an hour later, as the sky began to darken, the last native fell by Zhu Baiyi's hand.

Only then did Qingyu have a moment to ask: "What exactly happened here? Were you discovered and surrounded?"

As the person who had been entrusted with responsibility, Jiang Mo felt somewhat embarrassed but forced herself to explain the situation. As expected, she was met with Qingyu's face full of disapproval—not because she disagreed with their counterattack, but because they shouldn't have taken such risks knowing they were outmatched, especially without considering potential accidents and dangers. If she and Zhu Baiyi hadn't returned in time, the situation might have been difficult to salvage.

After listening, Zhu Baiyi glanced at Jiang Mo, then at her Crimson Blood Sect disciples, vaguely guessing how this counterattack had come about. She didn't expose this, nor did she make excuses for Jiang Mo. She merely raised her chin and said: "You should tend to your wounds first."

Indeed, Jiang Mo was injured, for the first time in many years.

It wasn't just her—almost everyone in the ambush party was wounded. The severely injured had broken tendons and fractured bones, lying on the ground unable to rise, while those with lighter injuries still bore several bloody gashes. By comparison, Jiang Mo only had a slash wound on her waist, which was relatively minor. Among everyone, the only person who remained uninjured was Yun Qingyue. As for why she had escaped injury, only she and Jiang Mo knew.

Jiang Mo pressed one hand against the wound on her waist. Upon hearing Zhu Baiyi's words, she didn't stubbornly insist on continuing, nor did she feel obligated to help with the aftermath despite her injury. She obediently handed the cleanup work to the two seniors and turned around, only to meet Yun Qingyue's complicated gaze.

Faintly, Jiang Mo seemed to hear a soft sigh, followed by Yun Qingyue saying: "Come, I'll treat your wound."

Jiang Mo's expression softened slightly. She didn't refuse her Senior Sister's kind offer and followed her, saying as they walked: "My clothes are torn again. I'll have to trouble you to mend them once more." After a pause, she added: "Also, please check the tear on my back to see if it's gotten worse..."

Yun Qingyue responded with a soft "alright," not refusing Jiang Mo's requests.

As the two walked away chatting, even with Qingyu's keen hearing, she gradually lost track of their conversation. However, now wasn't the time to worry about her disciple; more important was clearing up the aftermath and preparing for nightfall before dark.

Zhu Baiyi was decisive. She selected a few individuals with lighter injuries who appeared to hold higher positions to keep as prisoners, while slitting the throats of the rest. In their current situation, there wasn't even a need to bury the bodies—these natives claimed to be descendants of merpeople, and their bloodlines did seem somewhat extraordinary. Many beasts on the island coveted their flesh and blood. While they couldn't defeat the natives when alive, these corpses left here would surely be completely devoured by morning.

However, among the righteous path cultivators, some felt compassion at the sight and muttered: "These people didn't try to kill us. Isn't this approach a bit too cruel?" As soon as the words left his mouth, a companion beside him covered his mouth.

Qingyu heard this and looked over, her gaze colder than usual. Seeing that it wasn't a Xuanqing Sect disciple, she refrained from commenting.

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Although cultivators weren't generally concerned with minor details, most cultivators on the island were male. Just like when she had previously mended Jiang Mo's clothes, the two once again found a place away from prying eyes and ears before beginning to treat the wound.

Yun Qingyue held two freshly gathered spiritual herbs in one hand and a water talisman in the other.

Without being asked, Jiang Mo removed the hand covering her wound and pulled aside the torn clothing around it—her injury wasn't particularly severe, only about half an inch deep, though somewhat long, approximately two palms in length. Fresh blood flowed steadily, making it appear more serious than it was. However, injuries were common for cultivators, and this wasn't severe enough to frighten Yun Qingyue.

Yet Yun Qingyue's expression wasn't pleasant. Even with half her face hidden behind a mask, her tightly pressed thin lips revealed her mood. Without a word, she first used the water talisman to clean Jiang Mo's wound, then ground the herbs in her hand and applied them.

Although the spiritual herbs on the merperson island were diminished versions of their normal selves, they were abundant and still effective for stopping bleeding.

Before long, the bleeding from Jiang Mo's wound had stopped. Yun Qingyue wrapped it with a strip of cloth to secure it. Then, with one hand still covering her wound, Jiang Mo looked up at Yun Qingyue and tentatively said: "Thank you for your help."

As expected, upon hearing these words, Yun Qingyue's expression darkened further, and the atmosphere around her grew heavier.

Jiang Mo had never seen her like this before and suddenly felt inexplicably guilty, as if she had done something wrong... but she clearly hadn't!

Yun Qingyue obviously didn't share this view. She closed her eyes briefly before looking at Jiang Mo again and solemnly said: "Don't do this again." After a pause, she continued: "If I get injured, it's because my skills are inferior. You don't need to save me like this."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo also pressed her lips together, her gesture somewhat similar to Yun Qingyue's earlier. She said nothing but shook her head, her eyes filled with stubbornness, clearly unwilling to follow Yun Qingyue's words—to her, it was just a small wound, but that was because of her strong defensive abilities. The same force landing on Yun Qingyue might have gutted her!

Judging purely by the severity of injuries, Jiang Mo didn't feel she had done anything wrong. Moreover, how could she stand by and watch Yun Qingyue get hurt in front of her? If she backed down in the face of danger, she wouldn't be able to face her Senior Sister again.

Seeing Jiang Mo's reaction, Yun Qingyue wanted to say more, but Jiang Mo, unusually reluctant to listen, stood up and left on her own.

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This day's counterattack, though dangerous, had changed the situation significantly.

Setting aside how much new information the cultivators had gained, the natives had lost three hunting parties in a single day, which was a devastating blow to a tribe already limited in numbers. As a result, in the following days, the natives noticeably slowed their pursuit of cultivators and became more cautious.

This was naturally good news for the cultivators. With Jiang Mo and the others actively gathering people, they had assembled around one to two hundred cultivators. They had essentially gathered almost all the cultivators who hadn't been captured by the natives in one place. The only regret was that those elders and powerful figures were hiding deep, and even with Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi searching, they had only found a few elders from their own sects over several days, plus Dharma Master Huineng from the Buddha Sect.

Dharma Master Huineng was one of the three great dharma masters of the Buddha Sect. Unlike Dharma Master Huiming from years ago, Huineng was less skilled in combat and more proficient in divination. When the ghost ship first appeared, he had performed a calculation, and the result was the reason he and Tan Xin were now here.

In Tan Xin's words: "This humble monk was meant to be here."

Qingyu had no comment on this, but Zhu Baiyi felt the old monk was being deliberately mysterious, so she asked: "That day, Qingyu and I used the tribe's transportation array to visit a sacrificial altar, which must be on this island. The island's secret must be at that altar. We now wish to find it. Can the Master calculate where this altar might be?"

The old monk's reputation for divination was well-known, and Zhu Baiyi asked this hoping to save some effort. To her surprise, Huineng didn't even attempt a calculation before shaking his head and saying: "The heavenly mechanisms are obscured in this place. This old monk cannot calculate it."

Both Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu were surprised by this response, though they didn't doubt his reputation. In the end, everyone could only search the island aimlessly.

After two days of searching, Jiang Mo privately said to Yun Qingyue: "Cultivators have countless methods, and if that altar is important, it must be concealed. Searching blindly like headless flies, we're unlikely to find it."

Just as Jiang Mo had said, despite searching almost the entire merperson island, they couldn't find the sacrificial altar Zhu Baiyi had mentioned. So they had to turn their attention back to the native tribe, whose location was known—besides looking for the altar, they hadn't forgotten that half the cultivators had been captured by the natives. The problem was that those captives had been drugged, and they weren't sure if there was a way to restore them if they attempted a rescue.

On this matter, the elderly and most knowledgeable monk finally had something to say: "I once heard a rumor. It's said that merperson blood has unusual properties. Those who consume it fall into a dreamlike state, with body and soul separated, making it difficult to awaken."

Tan Xin, who had once awakened a fellow disciple, said: "When my dharma brother Tan Zhi awoke, he didn't mention anything."

Hearing this, Huineng explained: "They forget upon awakening."

Whether others believed this or not, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue did, because that night when they had sneaked into the village and checked the food and water, they had detected a faint bloody smell in the drinking water provided by the tribe. However, since only they had noticed it and the others hadn't sensed anything, they hadn't mentioned it. Now, after a moment's hesitation, they spoke up.

After Jiang Mo mentioned the bloody smell in the water, she asked Huineng: "Master, since you know about the issue with merperson blood, do you know of any solution?"

Huineng shook his head: "I haven't heard of one. It seems we would need the merpeople themselves to break it."

This response was essentially useless, leaving everyone disheartened. Then someone else asked: "Rumor has it that merpeople are invincible in the sea. Now that we're on this island, if they leave the seawater, can we defeat them?"

This was an unknown factor, as these were legendary creatures that had disappeared for ten thousand years—who could know their true capabilities? However, based on what Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi had witnessed of merperson combat, the prospects seemed grim.

After much discussion, no conclusion was reached, and even the question of whether to attempt a rescue became uncertain—they certainly wanted to save people, but if they couldn't awaken those they rescued, there wasn't much difference between rescuing them or not. Furthermore, carrying a group of unconscious people would be a burden if they encountered danger again. It might be better to leave them in the tribe.

At least until enough "sacrifices" were gathered, those people would be temporarily safe, without requiring their concern.

People argued endlessly about this, but at this point, further delay served no purpose. So they decided to rest and recuperate, then formally confront the natives. If they could directly meet the merpeople, all the better.